Category
Reviews
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06.03.13Talking ABC… app review (iPhone / iPad)How many animal alphabet apps are there on the App Store now? Certainly more than 26. In fact, there are probably enough to run through the alphabet 26 times, and still have a few anteaters and zebras left over. It's hard to stand out from the crowd in this educational sub-genre, but Talking ABC... manages it. Released by developer Jutiful, its schtick is cute and characterful claymation animals, which self-scrunch into balls of plasticine then reform as letters, and vice versa. Continue Reading...
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05.20.13Justin Fletcher’s Goldilocks app review (iPhone / iPad)Every year, a new crop of children encounter Justin Fletcher for the first time through his shows on CBeebies: Something Special, Gigglebiz and Justin's House. He's probably the most familiar face on children's TV here in the UK, and now he's making the leap onto iPhones and iPads with a planned series of 'Justin's World' apps. Starting with Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Released last week, it sees Justin telling the famous fairytale through a mixture of video and mini-games, including dressing up as Goldilocks AND the three bears. Continue Reading...
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05.13.13Toy Story: Story Theater review (iPhone / iPad)Disney's latest Toy Story app doesn't just want children to read and/or watch stories: it wants them to create some tales of their very own, using the characters from the Toy Story films. Available for iPhone and iPad, Toy Story: Story Theater offers a range of scenery, from the Wild West and the Arctic to Outer Space, with digital stickers for characters and props. The idea: children choose their setting and stickers, then animate their own tale by moving the latter around, and recording their own voice to tell the story. Continue Reading...
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04.25.13Little Red Riding Hood by Nosy Crow review (iPhone / iPad)It's been a while since Nosy Crow's last fairytale book-app Cinderella, although the publisher has kept itself busy making excellent apps like Rounds: Parker Penguin, Animal SnApp: Farm and Pip and Posy: Fun and Games (among others). Little Red Riding Hood by Nosy Crow is here, though, and it bears all the company's hallmarks: beautiful production values; canny use of your iPhone or iPad's hardware; and voice narration from children rather than adults. You know the tale: Little Red Riding Hood wandering through the woods to her Grandma's house, only to find a wolf in granny's bed with a set of big ...
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04.25.13Beauty and the Beast review (iPhone / iPad / Android)The problem with pop-up books in the real world is that they don't always cope with rough handling by kids. We had one book about tadpoles whose frogs-bursting-out climax was rather less exciting once the frogs had been literally ripped out, for example. In the apps world, that's not a worry: books that pop up stay popping up for as long as they're installed on your smartphone and tablet. Such is the case with Beauty and the Beast, the latest 3D tale from publisher StoryToys. Continue Reading...
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04.24.13Cut the Rope: Time Travel review (iPhone / iPad / Android)Just like Angry Birds, Temple Run and Fruit Ninja, the Cut the Rope games aren't specifically for kids – but they are enjoyed by millions of children. The release of Cut the Rope: Time Travel is thus big news for kids (and parents) who've fallen in love with cuddly monster Om Nom in his two previous games and/or his YouTube cartoons. The third game measures up very well, offering familiar gameplay with just enough tweaks to keep things interesting. Kids aged 7(ish) and up will enjoy playing it alone, while younger children will love cheering on siblings or parents as they play. The ...
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04.15.13Drawnimal app review (iPhone / iPad)It's safe to say that Apple's App Store is well stocked for delightful animal alphabet apps. Animals Alphabet; Idlezoo’s A-Z of Curious Creatures; Wee A B See; Alphabet Animals: A Slide and Peek Adventure; Mini-U: Zoo Alphabet; Funimal Phonics; Happipets… All excellent. Yet there's still scope for new apps to spring a surprise in this crowded genre. Witness Drawnimal, which slunk quietly onto the App Store last week, and has since captured us with its charms. The twist here is that the app is designed to get your children drawing in the real world. As its App Store listing notes: "All you need ...
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02.07.13Video review: Mibblio iPad music app for kidsWe're trying something new: video reviews using YouTube's annotations feature. First to get the treatment is musical iPad app Mibblio, which we wrote about earlier in the month. What do you think – both of the app (which costs £2.99 on the App Store) and of this kind of video (and of our cowbell skills, obviously)? Let us know in the comments.
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12.06.12Whale Trail Junior app review (iPhone / iPad)Back in October 2011, a game called Whale Trail was released for iPhone and iPad. It was marvellous fun... for grown-ups. Which was frustrating, because it also had many of the hallmarks of a smash hit for children too. The game involved piloting a cute cartoon whale called Willow through the skies, collecting bubbles and stars, avoiding grumpy clouds, and trying not to fall off the bottom of the screen, where a tentacly villain named Baron von Barry was waiting. The psychedelic colours, lovely characters and singalong theme tune – contributed by Gruff Rhys of the Super Furry Animals – looked perfect for kids ...
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09.24.12Lego Minifigure Ultimate Stickers (iPad app review)We're relatively new to Lego's Minifigures range of characters, as they tend to be just out of eyesight when our three year-old is excitedly furtling through the toy-car shelf at Sainsbury's for his weekly good-behaviour reward. We like the idea though: series of themed characters, which are eminently collectable, even if they're sadly also eminently standable-on when left lying around the living room by careless (i.e. all) toddlers. Hopefully you're less likely to stand on your iPad, which is the latest place the Lego Minifigures have popped up. It's an app called Lego Minifigure Ultimate Stickers released by book publisher DK. Continue ...
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